[coldnovemberrain]

who decides the type of session you have.?
you or T?

my last last session was very difficult. so for next session i prepared myself very well...i will talk openly and honestly no matter what...that session went well..and i felt really good..that i was through the fear and shared some difficult things. last session i also gave myself the pep talk...and went in hoping to have another productive session.
it ended up being such a bore...i talked just recalling things ... i got nothing out of it...left thinking what was that about?? T was ofcourse present and conversing...but there was no depth.
how do i know which session will be difficult which will be easy.
now ofcourse next session i am gonna go ...laid back...just to talk...maybe we will have few easy sessions..then BAM ! he will start asking difficult quesitons..and i will be caught off guard....and nothing will come out.

what can i do ..to make the sessions more productive...even though i choose the topic but its guided by T's questions...

[Leah123]

When I feel the disconnect happen, the part you described as "just recalling things....i got nothing out of it" then I tell my therapist that, and we can backtrack to something more emotionally resonant.

That helps me.

Also, I do sometimes ask her not to ask questions if I want to go in a certain direction, or if I'm not finding them helpful for whatever reason.

[stopdog]

I don't think I have had appointments I consider to be difficult or challenging. I have been extremely frustrated by her lack of understanding and I have been bored.

[divine1966]

I sometimes do small talk sessions when I just talk about mundane things, that's really a waste. Not boring per se but just a waste. The only difficult session I had was when t kept saying I have to do something that isn't plausible for me at all. I got really pissed

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[atisketatasket]

I try to go in with a couple of topics I want to discuss. That doesn't always happen, of course, but when I let her lead, it still goes pretty well. In fact, that's when we get to topics I've been avoiding.

I've been frustrated by myself (not her), and found the topics, whoever set them, challenging and difficult, mainly because I hate talking about myself. So so far I feel like I get something out of each session.

[nottrustin]

Unless you were to specifically say to T I need a laid back session you never know what will happen.

We had a few very difficult sessions and I was fried. I contacted T through email about needing a break. She told me she could understand if I were to cancel. However, if I came in we would could have a positive session. We did that and we agreed we were going to shelf the topic we had been discussing for a while I felt quite a bit better after that. Today my plan was to keep said topic shelved for a while but we started talking about something completely different and well it lead to that issue. After a bit though I told her I needed to change the subject.

[ruh roh]

I may be wrong, but I feel that I decide what kind of session it's going to be. I just don't feel pressured in any particular way to have a hard or light session. At the same time, it never feels like a waste or that my therapist is dialing it in. Then again, I sometimes really like lighter sessions. Maybe they help re-balance things. I'm not sure. I do know that the longer I see her, the more comfortable I am with whatever happens or doesn't happen.

[Ellahmae]

There are sessions where my T knows I need a break and we do very light work or just talk. I'm thankful that she does that or I'd just keep pushing myself and keep injuring my brain.

[ThingWithFeathers]

I find it hard to open up, so my t is usually the one to instigate conversation. She always gives me the opportunity to speak first, but I usually find it too hard to start and to take charge of the conversation.